पश्यन्ति paśyantī

World's First Poem As Mahārishi Vālmiki and his shishya Rishi Bhāradwāja approached the edge of  the Tamasā River, He was attracted by an area that was beautiful and mud-free clear water. Taking his kalasha and valkala vastra (bark garments) from his shishya, Valmiki enters the beautiful water of the Tamasā River. As he was entering the waters admiring the beauty and sounds of the birds, he sees two beautiful krauncha birds lost in union (kāmamohitam). At that moment, as though to destroy the serenity of the scene, a nishāda (hunter) shoots an arrow and kills the male bird to the lament of its partner. Looking at the lamenting kraunchi, Maharishi Valmiki says something to the nishāda,  This utterance of sorrow (śoka) that spontaneously fell into metrical form became the first śloka (verse) of Sanskrit poetry: मा निषाद प्रतिष्ठां त्वमगमः शाश्वतीः समाः | यत् क्रौञ्चमिथुनादेकमवधीः काममोहितम् || १-२-१५ mā niṣāda pratiṣṭhāṁ tvamagamaḥ śāśvatīḥ samāḥ | yat krauñca-mithunād...

Sita's agnipariksha is a favorite episode for many Indian leftists to deride the uttama purusha of Bharatvarsha, Shri Ramachandra as a mysogynist. Unfortunately, while they use a modern western lenses selectively on Hindu themes and stories, most of them either do not know Sanskrit, have not read Ramayana, or they simply have known Ramayana through secondary sources that are compromised in their intent. While much of this poor scholarship remains alive due to the collective ignorance and apathy of the Hindus, it also true that in post colonial India, stories pertaining to gender inequality seem to corroborate perverted interpretations of Sanskrit itihasas. While the stories are true, as Veena Talwar Oldenberg explains, the reasons are largely buried in a dark colonial past: "It was also these twin features of colonial revenue collecting that made the British "civilizing mission" a travesty, driving tillers to debt and finally separation from their land, condemning ...

शीक्षा   Śikṣā  (Phonetics) is one of the  Vedāngas  - a discipline that focuses on the correct pronunciation, accentuation, and phonetics of the Vedic texts. It ensures that the hymns and mantras are recited accurately, preserving their intended sound and meaning. Taittiriya Upanishad states right at the beginning: ॐ शीक्षां व्याख्यास्यामः । वर्णः स्वरः । मात्रा बलम् । साम सन्तानः । इत्युक्तः शीक्षाध्यायः ॥ oṃ śīkṣāṃ vyākhyāsyāmaḥ  । varṇaḥ svaraḥ | mātrā balam  ।   sāma santānaḥ | ityuktaḥ śīkṣādhyāyaḥ  sāma santānaḥ | ityuktaḥ śīkṣādhyāyaḥ  ॥ Om! We shall treat of the phonetics:  sound, rhythm, quantity, strength, modulation, union.  Thus has been declared the lesson on phonetics (Translation by A. Mahadev Sastri) One of the important texts for this v edānga is the  Pāṇinīya Śikṣā ( पाणिनीयशिक्षा). I have selected shlokas from this text that I use as a basis for honing my own chanting skills. This is a living document and I...